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Printing a Blinker Lens

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  Printing a Blinker Lens Computer Nerd Kev <not@telling.you.invalid> - 2026-01-08 17:25 +1000
    Re: Printing a Blinker Lens vintageapplemac@gmail.com (scole) - 2026-01-11 10:37 +0100

#62 — Printing a Blinker Lens

I've been thinking for some time about 3D printing replacement
lenses for the front blinker lights on my car. Stones crack them
easily and it's an old model so spares are scarce.

There are details here about making clear prints, and the original
lenses are slightly diffused so it doesn't need to be perfect
anyway:

https://fenneclabs.net/index.php/2018/12/09/3d-printing-transparent-parts-using-fdm-fff-printer/

But another aspect is longevity - will the light from the bulb and
the sun soon break down the plastic, or turn it opaque? I know PLA
breaks down, how about ABS or PETG?

Has anyone done clear prints for outdoor use before and seen how
long they last?

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#63

In article <695f5bec@news.ausics.net>, Computer Nerd Kev
<not@telling.you.invalid> wrote:

> I've been thinking for some time about 3D printing replacement
> lenses for the front blinker lights on my car. Stones crack them
> easily and it's an old model so spares are scarce.
> 
> There are details here about making clear prints, and the original
> lenses are slightly diffused so it doesn't need to be perfect
> anyway:
> 
>
https://fenneclabs.net/index.php/2018/12/09/3d-printing-transparent-parts-using-fdm-fff-printer/
> 
> But another aspect is longevity - will the light from the bulb and
> the sun soon break down the plastic, or turn it opaque? I know PLA
> breaks down, how about ABS or PETG?
> 
> Has anyone done clear prints for outdoor use before and seen how
> long they last?

I can't answer that specific question - but I'd say that even if you have
to replace it with a new print every year or so, that sounds fine to me.
Print half a dozen or so in the first instance and then you've got maybe a
decade's supply if replacement blinker lights. :)

The chap that first introduced me to 3D printing did something similar -
not transparent/semi-opaque parts, but he did model and print a few
replacement bits of plastic bodywork items on a van he was returning from
a 3 year loan arrangement... Saved him some expensive penalty fees!

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